Paradise found

Udaipur Travel Blog

Must have drifted off again as I woke up at dawn with the sight of rain lashing the windows, great! Not long after it turns out that the bus does terminate in Udaipur so got my stuff together and found myself on a packed street full of vendors and mopeds. I got collared by a man who kept saying "this is my business" - I thought he meant the coach firm, idiot! What me really meant was, "this is my hotel, come and stay here"! It looked like a seedy palce above a shop, no thanks! I told him where I was trying to get to and he said"But this is out of the city, too quiet, stay here" I didn't need any more encouragement than that, thanks! A Rickshaw man came over to "assist" so I showed the hotel man the telephone number for my rickshaw man, Mohammed which he kindly rang for me. He came back over to me whilst I was having a chai and said that he was not at hotel or something similar, what?! The rickshaw man stepped in and said that he knew where it was and not to worry, funny that, I did worry! Anyway, off we went and stopped for petrol and directions, then stopped again for directions. After an impromptu guide of the palaces in the city we headed out and veered off down a dirt track with the driver still shouting at people for directions. Finally, after what seemed like the logest bumpiest rickshaw ride I had had, we pulled up outside the gate of a large house on a hill. I was met at the gate by the owner of Mountain Ridge, Piers and a coupe of his staff who carried by pack to my room. What a place! Surrounded by hill, the only sound I heard was the birds twittering and a tractor somewhere in the distance. Was told that breakfast was nearly ready and that I should just make myself comfortable, think I'm going to like it here!

Too shattered to write this on the day so playing catch up the day after.

I spent the first day relaxing in the garden, even had a dip in the (cold) pool, nice though! Went for a nap and when I woke up I wandered into the lounge where I met Wim and Stephanie from Belgium who were staying for 3 days the same as me, very pleasant couple. The other guest there was Ros, it seems like this was her second home, she was here for a month and this was her last week here. Also found the house full of kids, the youngest about 4 and the eldest 10. I don't know who they belonged to, maybe the housekeeper or one of the cooks? I later found out from Piers that their father used to work there with his wife, the childrens' mother and they had all stayed downstiars. Unfortunately in April this year the father had died suddenly, I don't know how and didn't like to ask, but the family had stayed on and it seems that Piers supports them all. I believe that they wee all Nepalese, certainly not Indian, even the cooks, so maybe they all came to work here together? I'm just starting to learn their names, one of the boys is Ravi, the eldest girl I think is Susanna, I don't know the other boy's name. The youngest girl, 4, maybe 5? came up to me and asked me my name so I told here, she is still trying to say it now, keeps calling me kiss! I asked her name in return and she said something in return which I didn't quite catch so I asked her to repeat it, she said it again and I said "that sounds like chicken"?! Apparently Chicken is what they all call her! Funny, it sort of fits! Anyway, it seems like one big happy family here and I'm made to feel very welcome. Had a nice dinner with everyone sat outside and we were eventually joined by the neighbours, Evie and Malcolm, a coupe from England, all very pleasant.

I thought that it was really late so headed off to bed and found it was 9pm! I cannot for the life of me remember the last time I was is bed by 9pm (to sleep!) Have decided to go and explore the city tomorrow and with breakfast being at 8.15am it's not a bad idea for an early night! goodnight